Rationale

Project tendering and contracting is of fundamental importance to project management and is a key skill set required for the management of complex projects of a capital nature. Tendering and contracting are key elements of the overall project procurement strategy - the groundwork is laid on day 1 of a project and the implications are felt until the end of the useful life of the project, which may be 10 or 50 years later. Choices for tendering and contracting procedures reflect, and ultimately determine, the nature of the relationship between the key stakeholders. Criteria for selection of tendering and contracting strategies may be influenced by consideration of such issues as relationship building, time, cost, value, quality, risk, competition or transparency. There are numerous options from which to choose, and a prime responsibility of the project manager is to advise on the most appropriate strategy and to carry out the steps in an efficient, effective and ethical manner. It requires experience and knowledge in the areas of law, the industry context and industry practices. It involves a wide range of stakeholders including the sponsor, the project team, the major contractors and sub-contractors, suppliers and end-users who inherit the project outcomes that are defined and delivered as part of the tendering and contracting cycle.

Synopsis

The course examines the following: (1) Definition of project requirements, definition of project deliverables to be provided through outsourcing, with consideration of risk management, quality management and operational and disposal issues over the operational life of the deliverables (2) Selection of an appropriate procurement strategy and contractual relationship for simple and complex projects (3) Definition of tendering and contracting processes and consideration of scope, time and cost management, and ethics, governance and probity (4) Identification and confirmation of prospective contractors and suppliers, and establishment of processes for submission of offers (5) Evaluation of offers using section criteria, selection of preferred contractor and supplier, negotiation of final offer and acceptance of offer (6) Creating contractual relationships including formation of appropriate contracts between client/sponsor and principal contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers (7) Agency and the law of torts, including fiduciary responsibilities, negligence and duty of care (8) Ensuring completion of contractual obligations by both parties including contract administration, duty of care, cost management, time management and consideration of intellectual property (9) Dispute resolution, breach of contract and termination and completion. (10) Project completion and handover of project outcomes to end-users. The course does not require any prior study of project management, but students would benefit from having project management industry experience or by having completed studies in the area of project management beforehand.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

define project requirements and project deliverables to be provided through outsourcing, with consideration of risk management, quality management and operational and disposal issues over the operational life of the deliverables

select an appropriate procurement strategy and contractual relationship for simple and complex projects

define tendering and contracting processes with due consideration of scope, time and cost management, and ethics, governance and probity

identify and confirm prospective contractors and suppliers, and establish processes for submission of offers

evaluate offers using section criteria, select a preferred contractor or supplier, negotiate a final offer and accept the offer

create contractual relationships and form appropriate contracts between client/sponsor and principal contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers

act professionally with regard to your rights and obligations in relation to agency and the law of torts, including fiduciary responsibilities, negligence and duty of care

ensure completion of contractual obligations by both parties including contract administration, duty of care, cost management, time management and consideration of intellectual property

facilitate action with regard to disputes, breach of contract, termination

finalise the contract and arrange for handover of project outcomes to end-users

demonstrate appropriate analytical and communication skills.

Topics

Description

Weighting(%)

1.

Principles of procurement

10.00

2.

Legal aspects of project procurement

10.00

3.

Project requirements and deliverables

10.00

4.

Principles of tendering

10.00

5.

Invitation and submission of offers

10.00

6.

Acceptance of offer

10.00

7.

Forming contractual relationships

10.00

8.

Contract administration

10.00

9.

Resolution of contract disputes

10.00

10.

Contract completion and handover

10.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=01&subject1=MGT8028)

Student workload requirements

Assessment details

Description

Marks out of

Wtg (%)

Due Date

Notes

ASSIGNMENT 1

100

0

18 Mar 2013

(see note 1)

ASSIGNMENT 2

100

30

15 Apr 2013

(see note 2)

ASSIGNMENT 3

100

70

11 Jun 2013

NOTES

Assignment 1 requires students to select an appropriate project for analysis in assignments 2 and 3 and is a small case study report. Students are encouraged to complete the activity to ensure they understand the nature of the studies in the course and the scope of assignments 2 and 3.

Assignments 2 and 3 are major project-based case studies and require students to obtain sufficient information on a project of their choice to carry out a critical analysis of nominated aspects of that project. Students should choose a project as early as possible after reading the requirements of assignments 2 and 3. The same project can be used for assignments 2 and 3.

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
If you are an international student in Australia, you are advised to attend all classes at your campus. For all other students, there are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval of the examiner, then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. See item 1 below.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

Examination information:
There is no examination in this course.

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Not applicable.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

Assignments: (i) Assignments must be submitted electronically by 11.59pm (AEST) on the due date through the USQ Electronic Assignment Submission Environment (EASE). (ii) Students must retain a copy of each assignment submitted for assessment. This must be produced within 24 hours if required by the examiner. (iii) The examiner may grant an extension of the due date of an assignment in extenuating circumstances. If the required extension is less than seven days, there is no need to obtain prior approval. In such cases, submit your assignment as soon as possible after the due date together with any supporting documentation that might be required. The authority for granting extensions rests with the relevant examiner. (iv) The examiner will normally only accept assessments that have been prepared using electronic media. (v) The examiner will not accept submission of assignments by facsimile. (vi) Students who are disadvantaged by these regulations may be given special consideration. They should contact the examiner to negotiate such special arrangements. (vii) In the event that a due date for an assignment falls on a local public holiday in their area, such as a show holiday, the due date for the assignment will be the next day. Students are to note on the assignment cover the date of the public holiday for the examiner's convenience. (viii) Note that assignments may have to be accompanied by a ‘Turnitin’ Originality Report which the student has to download from the Turnitin website at http://www.turnitin.com after submitting their assignment to the Turnitin database online. Details will be provided with the assignment requirements. Failure to attach the Originality Report may result in loss of marks.

Referencing in assignments: Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.

Course weightings: Course weightings of topics should not be interpreted as applying to the number of marks allocated to assessment.

Deferred work: Students who, for medical, family/personal, or employment-related reasons, are unable to complete an assignment may apply to defer an assessment in a course. Such a request must be accompanied by appropriate supporting documentation. A temporary grade of IDM (Incomplete Deferred Make-up) may be awarded.

Make-up work: Students who have undertaken all of the required assessments in a course but who have failed to meet some of the specified objectives of a course within the normally prescribed time may be awarded the temporary grade: IM (Incomplete - Make up). An IM grade will only be awarded when, in the opinion of the examiner, a student will be able to achieve the remaining objectives of the course after a period of non directed personal study.